Celebrating Soil! Celebrating Life!

On 26th and 27th June 0215, the Celebrating Soil! Celebrating Life! conference took place in Amsterdam, in the Royal Tropical Institute. Business-, political-, civil society- and spiritual leaders shared their vision, passion and commitment with regards to Soil Challenges, ‘Soilutions’ and how to become ‘Soilmates’. Below you find the main speakers. Click on portraits for more information!

Vandana Shiva

Scientist, author, eco-feminist, Alternative Nobel Prize winner

Vandana Shiva is known worldwide for her fight against the GMO lobby in developing countries and for farmers' and women's rights. She is a patron of the Save Our Soils campaign. During the conference she will present her new book ‘The Living Soil’. She has previously stated: "We need to wake humanity to the soil emergency."

Doug Tompkins

Conservationist, founder of Esprit and The North Face

After successfully founding two major companies, Tompkins dedicated himself to land conservation and restoration and became the largest private conservationist in the world. He has restored huge areas of degraded soil, creating landscapes of astonishing beauty. In June he will receive the Kiel Institute Global Economy Prize.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse

Spiritual leader of the Sioux

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the spiritual leader of all three branches of the Sioux tribe. As a 19th generation keeper of sacred prophecies and instructions he has recently spoken out about ecological mishaps, pointing out that the Creator’s Natural Law must be the foundation for all decision making.

Sharon Dijksma

Minister for Agriculture

In January, Sharon Dijksma informed the Dutch parliament about the Year of Soils, stating that good soil management is crucial to secure our food supply in the future. On April 1, Europe abandoned its milk quota. On 30 March, she sent a letter to the parliament, proposing that dairy farming in the Netherlands must remain land-based.

Maria Helena Semedo

Deputy Director General FAO

Soil is the top priority for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations this year. Semedo is in charge of the International Year of Soils. In a recent interview, she stated: "The Year of Soils hopefully will be a turning point. We are optimistic that the Year of Soils will trigger increasing investment on sustainable soil management."

Pema Gyamtsho

Former Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Opposition Leader, Bhutan

Pema Gyamtsho was the First Minister of Agriculture and Forests of the kingdom of Bhutan from 2008 to 2013. During this time Bhutan became the first country in the world that adopted a 100% organic approach for its agricultural policy. Bhutan was also the first country in the world to adopt the revolutionary "Gross National Happiness" index to make policy decisions; it takes into consideration not only financial but also societal and spiritual values. Gyamtsho is an agronomist by training, who received his Ph.D. in Switzerland in 1996. Since 2013, he has been the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly of Bhutan.

Ibrahim Abouleish

Founding President Sekem Egypt

Sekem in Egypt has been proving for years that deserts can be converted into fertile soils with the application of compost and biodynamic methods. Starting from scratch, Sekem has created a unique, sustainable and holistic society in the countryside of Egypt, promoting sustainability, equality and women's rights in the true spirit of Islam.

Renate Künast

Chairwoman Green Party, Former Minister of Agriculture

Renate Künast was the main driving force behind the ‘Nuclear energy, no thanks’ campaign that swept through Europe in 1979 and since then has remained at the centre of the German political arena. Always taking a firm stand, she has put herself fully behind the Save Our Soils campaign. "Healthy soil is the key to global food security. Compost is the new gold."

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp

Earth Charter Commissioner

Awraham Soetendorp is an international spokesman for the progressive Jewish community, spreading a message of peace and hope. He is deeply involved in issues of international development and sustainability. The Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values was founded to support his work. The first sentence of its mission statement is: Protect the Earth.

Rev. Thabo C. Makgoba

Archbishop RSA Anglican Church

Thabo Makgoba was appointed the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town in 2007 and is a personal friend of former Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He founded the Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust which strives for social justice and equality through education. For the RIO+20 conference in 2012 he wrote a prayer about the human task of stewardship of the earth, so that mankind may sustain itself and live in dignity.

Sarah Wiener

German chef, author, food activist

As Germany's most famous cook Sarah Wiener has published many books and dvd's and founded a multifaceted food enterprise, but she is also a strong advocate for ethical and ecological awareness in our dealings with food. Sarah Wiener has been the German patron of the Save Our Soils campaign since the beginning. ‘Sustainable pleasure’ is her credo. She heads the Sarah Wiener foundation and recently acquired a large organic farm near Berlin.

HRH Princess Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld

Foundation Lippe-Biesterfeld NatuurCollege

Princess Irene of the Netherlands wrote a book in 1995, ‘Dialogue with Nature’, outlining her philosophy that human beings are alienated from the natural world and should reconnect with it. In 2001, she founded the NatuurCollege institute, which strives to make people aware of the interconnectedness of all life, and point to the essence of sustainability.

Piet van IJzendoorn

Biodynamic farmer at Zonnehoeve

Piet van IJzendoorn is one of the original Dutch organic pioneers. He founded Zonnehoeve farm in 1981 and has always seen it as his main task to take care of the living soil. Scientists have investigated the ‘phosphate miracle’ at Zonnehoeve farm, which continues to deliver high yields in a soil where phosphate levels are much too low according to conventional science.

Anna Blythe Lappé

"Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want". This is just one of the catchphrases coined by Anna Lappé that has turned viral. She founded the Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. Her newest project, Food MythBusters, aims to bust myths about industrial agriculture and share the positive story of sustainable farming.

Hans Herren

Alternative Nobel Prize winner, CEO Millennium Institute Washington

Hans Rudolf Herren is a Swiss entomologist and development specialist. In 2013 he won the Right Livelihood Award ("Alternative Nobel Prize") for leading a major biological pest management campaign in Africa, successfully fighting the Cassava mealybug and averting a major food crisis that could have claimed an estimated 20 million lives. Herren is the president and CEO of the Washington-based Millennium Institute. Based on his deep and long experience in biological pest control, Herren is an outspoken proponent of agro-ecology and other forms of sustainable agriculture.

Andre Leu

President IFOAM Organic International

In September 2014, IFOAM-president Andre Leu published his book ‘The myths of safe pesticides’ in which he proved that the claims of chemical companies and pesticide regulators are not all they seem. In March, the World Health Organization announced that Roundup was probably carcinogenic. Despite this, Roundup is still the most used herbicide in the Netherlands and the rest of the world.

Thomas Rau

Architect

Thomas Rau was elected architect of the year 2013 in the Netherlands for his revolutionary sustainable building style. In 2014, he constructed the first circular building in Europe for the electric network company Alliander in Duiven. Many of his buildings are energy-positive: they generate more energy than they use. He is in the race to design the new office of Nature & More / Eosta.

Götz Rehn

CEO Alnatura, Germany

Götz Rehn is one of Germany's organic pioneers. Rehn started his company Alnatura in 1986, opening the country’s first organic supermarket in Mannheim the following year. Over the years more than 90 supermarkets followed, making Alnatura Germany's market leader in the organic retail sector. The Alnatura chain continues to rapidly expand, opening approximately 10 new stores every year.

Rainer Horn

Scientist, President of IUSS

Professor Horn is one of the worlds foremost soil physicists. He is professor of Soil Science at Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, Germany. In 2012 he was elected President of the International Union of Soil Sciences. As such, he leads the global community of soil scientists with approximately 55,000 members. At Global Soil Week in April 2015 he stated: "The future is 10 cm deep."

Joszi Smeets

Director Youth Food Movement, Netherlands

As director of the Dutch Youth Food Movement (YFM), Joszi Smeets is trying to change the way we look at food production by promoting healthy, honest food and conscious food consumption. The Youth Food Movement is a network of young farmers, cooks, artisans, activists and students that are actively changing the future of food and farming. YFM Projects include: Food Film Festival, Damn Food Waste and the YFM Academy.

Nikolai Fuchs

Director GLS Treuhand, Germany

Nikolai Fuchs studied agricultural sciences, worked as managing director for the German Biodynamic Association and was director of the Agricultural Section at the Goetheanum Academy in Switzerland. Since 2010 he is President of the Nexus Foundation in Switzerland. In 2014 he took over the directory of the GLS Treuhand, a charitable trust foundation, bringing together people and money for social, ecological and cultural purposes. Fuchs is author of several influential books including "Es geht auch anders. Ein nachhaltiger Lebensstil ist möglich - das Beispiel Landwirtschaft".

John Liu

Commonland, Netherlands

Following 15 years as a television news producer and cameraman, John D. Liu devoted his energy to understanding and communicating about the Earth’s natural ecosystems. This decision has led John to produce many ecological, award-winning films including “Hope in a Changing Climate”, “Green Gold” and “A Steppe Ahead”. He is ambassador of Commonland, an organization working on landscape restoration worldwide. Commonland contributes to the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of the world’s degraded and deforested lands by 2020.

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq

Shaman and Elder, Greenland

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, shaman, healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (winddrum), is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. Being confronted with the melting icecaps in his home country, he became an advocate for environmental awareness worldwide. His teachings are deeply rooted in the wisdom of the oral healing traditions of his people. He invites everyone to shift perspective and connect to nature’s spirit.

Alexander Müller

Director IASS, Germany

Sociologist and former policymaker Alexander Müller is the Secretary General ad interim of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany. From 2006 until June 2013 he served as Assistant-Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and was responsible for the Department for Natural Resources and Environment. As member of the German Sustainability Council, he is shaping the Energiewende, an ambitious plan to shift from nuclear and fossil fuels to renewables.

Miha Pogačnik

Concert violinist, Slovenian Cultural Ambassador

Coming from Slovenia, one of the countries with the most preserved nature and the highest biodiversity in the world, Miha Pogačnik believes in the power of art and creation to mobilise human nature and find solutions to modern dilemmas. The visionary violinist created more than 200 intercultural festivals in crisis areas around the globe, is Slovenian Cultural Ambassador and appears regularly at the World Economic Forum as well as in different Agencies of the UN.